221B Drabbles

by tsukinoblossom

My attempt at writing short stories in the 221-B format 221 words, last word starting with B . I'm really enjoying writing and I think these will encourage me to to do it more often and present an interesting challenge. Note: These stories are not sequential, or even necessarily in the same universe. Unless otherwise specified, each drabble is a unique, complete entity.

169. Bothered

Cursing, John steps gingerly over a stack of photographs of a particularly unpleasant crime scene. Sherlock studies him curiously as he makes his way into the kitchen. He looks into six or seven mugs, sighing at each one, until he gets to the last one, at which point he cringes and swears again. He's found the one with the toes in it, then.

Sherlock turns over on the sofa, eager to avoid eye contact and the ensuing argument. Unfortunately, John's having none of that.

"Sherlock, turn over or I'm dumping these toes on you. Which I'm sure will ruin the validity of whatever the hell it is you're doing with them."

Groaning, Sherlock turns over again, so he's still lying on the sofa but John can see his face now.

"Please don't, John. It's for an experiment."

"Of course it is. Is the rest of the bloody mess in here also part of an experiment? Some kind of study as to how much filth the average English flatmate can handle before going absolutely fucking postal?"

It's not a conscious decision to leave the communal areas of the flat a disaster area, not really. It's just that there's so much more important stuff going on inside of Sherlock's head that when it comes time to tidy up, he just can't be bothered.